Our Words Matter

Sunday - March 27th

Scripture to Read Today: Ephesians 4:17-32

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Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Ephesians 4:29

Research shows the average person speaks around 7,000 words a day. Words play a vital part in our personal and professional lives. We talk to the people we love the most. And, we talk to strangers with whom we do business or connect casually. Think about what that means to you. Those 7,000 words you speak each day are your imprint on the world and, more specifically, your imprint on others.

"The tongue has the power of life and death" (Proverbs 18:21). Words do not exist in a vacuum. What we say can bring life to others or bring pain - even emotional death. What comes from our lips or what we type into our computers or phones matters. Our words matter.

Words we say to friends and family matter. Words that wound go deep into the very core of another. Words that encourage can breathe fresh life into a person who may be overwhelmed at that moment. What we say online matters. The comments we make on someone's Facebook or Instagram post or Tweet matter.

Ephesians 4:22-24 instructs us to put off our old ways and put on the new ways of Christ. Part of that putting off and putting on includes the words we use. Foul language, lies, gossip, insults, and hurtful speech represent life before coming to Jesus. On the other hand, words that build up and encourage others reflect a life being transformed by Christ. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" (Ephesians 4:29).

What kinds of words represent your communication with others in person or online? Words that tear down or words that build up? Words that discourage others or words that encourage others? At the end of Ephesians 4:29, Paul says that we should choose words that build up and encourage so our words "may benefit those who listen."

Will the 7,000 words you use today encourage and build up others or destroy and tear down others?

Our words matter so much that God calls us to use encouraging words, so they impact those who listen!